Seductive aspiring actress Carmen Brown, who unwittingly causes trouble wherever she goes, gets involved with
Philadelphia Police Department Sergeant Derek Hill, who is engaged to a cocktail waitress named Caela. At Lou's Bar, Carmen gets into a fight with a jealous woman, and Hill's superior officer, Lieutenant Frank Miller, orders Hill to bring Carmen to jail. Carmen tries unsuccessfully to seduce Hill, but convinces him to let her stop at her apartment to put her mother's ring in a safe place so it does not get stolen in jail. There, she puts on lingerie and wins him over. He is caught in the morning (with Carmen nowhere to be found) by Miller (who is now revealed to be a crooked cop), who brings Caela with him as he arrests Hill. Caela slaps Hill and tells him she hates him. While in jail, Hill cannot stop thinking about Carmen. She writes him a letter, and he shares his obsession with cellmates Jalil and "Pockets". Meanwhile, Carmen meets the famous rapper Blaze at "the Spot", nightclub. He wants to bring her to Los Angeles, but succeeds only in bringing her best friends. Carmen promises to meet them in LA once Hill is out of jail. Unfortunately, Hill is facing a year of probation once he gets out. However, after he gets into an argument with Miller, he punches him, fleeing to Los Angeles afterwards with Carmen, who is unaware of the incident. Things in Los Angeles do not go well: Carmen cannot find an acting job, and Hill's fugitive status prevents him from obtaining employment. She encounters her best friends, Rasheeda and Nikki, who are being treated like royalty by Blaze. The trio have their
tarot cards read by a psychic; while Rasheeda and Nikki receive favorable fortunes, Carmen's cards read "ruin," "sorrow" and "death." Deciding that it is time for a change, she goes to Blaze's rehearsal and is invited to be his date to his next concert. Meanwhile, Sergeant Tony Porter (Hill's ex-partner) gives Hill and Carmen's address to Miller for a large amount of cash. Simultaneously, a radio, connected to a power outlet, falls into the bathtub which Carmen had just left. Carmen wonders if that was meant to be her death. Shortly afterwards, Carmen breaks up with Hill and moves in with her friends in a house apparently owned by Blaze. She feels that she should not give up her life for him, even though he did for her. Much like his counterpart in the original opera, Hill is devastated. He also learns from Caela, who still loves him, that he is in danger. Since Hill knows how crooked he is, Miller wants to get rid of him. Hill goes to Carmen to try to win her over again and make her leave with him. Carmen does not want to leave and tells Hill that she is staying. During their argument, a voyeuristic Miller accidentally shoots Carmen twice with a silenced gun while aiming for Hill. As Carmen dies in Hill's arms, he touches her back and sees blood running down his hand, lays the dead body down on the floor and goes to fight Miller. Hill and Miller have their last fight which ends with Miller falling to his death. Rasheeda and Nikki find Carmen's dead body and are both shocked and devastated. The story ends with Hill's wrongful arrest and the rapping narrator laying a rose down for Carmen stating "Immortal Beloved ... Carmen Brown, There'll never be another". == Cast ==